Gray: The Luck of a Potter
by Sir Manayaz
Summary: One-shot. Set on Halloween 2015. A glimpse into the life of James Sirius Potter. Focuses on James' last Halloween before he starts Hogwarts, his pranking ways cause him to stumble across a certain map that will become very useful in the future. COMPLETE


**_Disclaimer: _**_I do not own Harry Potter, it belongs to JK Rowling_

_**Author's Note:** This is set in the same timeline as my other 'Gray' stories but set before it, reading them isn't necessary to understand this one-shot. Happy Halloween everyone!_

* * *

_October 31st 2015_

James had always loved Halloween, the entire 'trick or treat' part of it was just asking for mischief and one of his cousins' birthday fell on Halloween so it also meant a big family gathering. Although the gathering got smaller every year as more of his cousins started Hogwarts and friends of the family started Hogwarts, this year was in fact James' last Halloween as he started Hogwarts next September. James wasn't saddened by this, he was looking forwards to going to Hogwarts as he had been since he was little. He was determined that this would be an fun final Halloween.

He woke up early and headed downstairs excitedly, Grimmauld Place had been done up with decorations for Halloween. Paperchains of pumpkins lined the walls, enchanted to make different faces every few minutes while spiders dangled from the ceiling and plastic bats charmed to fly sped around randomly. James loved it. Predictably, his mother was already up and making breakfast but no one else was down yet. This didn't surprise him too much, he'd heard someone in the bathroom - probably his dad - and Lily woke up around the same time as him, sometimes she beat him downstairs or vice versa and Albus... well, Albus wasn't much for waking up early.

"Morning Mum," James offered cheerfully as he sat down.

"Morning love. I'm making pancake monsters, are you hungry?" his mum greeted him with a backward glance and smile.

"Starving!"

"Stupid question," she laughed.

"So what's the plan for today?" James asked, half out of curiosity and half out of boredom as he drummed his fingers on the table in wait for his breakfast.

"Well we're going to hang out here, Ron and Hermione should be over soon with the Birthday Boy. Grandma and Grandpa will be over too because they want to see Hugo open his presents. Angelina is coming with Roxy later and Luna is bringing her twins too, when people start coming home from work they'll be here too then we get dressed up and Floo over to the Leaky Cauldron for the party."

"Cool," James nodded as his seven year old sister joined them, "We're having pancake monsters for breakfast."

"Awesome," Lily grinned.

Lily was the youngest of the Potter children and the only one to inherit their mother's red hair, however it remained as unruly as the other Potters', she was also the only one to need glasses like their dad. Albus was a year younger than James and looked the most like their father though, he had the same emerald eyes, messy black hair... he just needed the scar and glasses. When people saw Albus, the first thing they said was that Harry Potter's son was the spitting image of him. When people saw James, the first thing they said was 'aww, you have your mother's eyes', much to James' chagrin. He was a hero's son too, the firstborn even.

He couldn't wait to go to Hogwarts and prove himself, have fun adventures and everything. He was going to follow in his dad's - and his mum's to a lesser extent as she'd been a reserve - footsteps to be the next Gryffindor Seeker, maybe even in his First Year as he thought he was pretty good. Albus was a terrible flier so James was definitely more like his parents in that respect. As James was the eldest, he thought his dad was also almost certainly going to hand down the family Invisibility Cloak to him - if he was lucky, maybe even in his First Year - which was going to be awesome. The possibilities were endless.

James was drawn from his thoughts as his dad joined them, helping out his mum with the cooking as and filling in Lily on the day's plans in a bit more detail. He went going to go wake Albus when the food was finally ready, the smell was so good that James could practically taste them already as his mum dished out the food. The pancakes weren't circular but instead shaped like various monsters and generally spooky things, they picked out their favorite shapes and buried them in blood and guts. That being what toppings were called on Halloween, which for James was lots of ketchup, syrup and chocolate chips.

"Hey, Lily, was that the fireplace?" James questioned of his sister, pretending he'd heard the sound of Flooing.

"I didn't hear anything," Lily pointed out but bit her lip thoughtfully, or tried, she was losing teeth and they were especially gappy at the moment, "But I'll check anyway."

Lily immediately went off to check and James smirked to himself, they made it too easy. He pulled a handful of Candy Maggots from his pocket - he loved having an uncle who ran a joke shop - and sprinkled them amongst Lily's overwhelming amount of cream. They were a Halloween exclusive item, not only did they _look_ like maggots but they really wriggled which was perfect for freaking people out. Lily returned momentarily as it had been just nothing, James kept watch on her out of the corner of his eye to not be too obvious as she started to cut up her pancakes. It was only when she went to take a bite that she noticed the maggots squirming on her fork. The look of slow realization and horror on her face was priceless. She dropped her fork and screamed.

"MAGGOTS IN MY PANCAKES!" Lily shrieked before screaming, deafeningly and continuously screaming.

But it was worth it, despite killing his eardrums. Lily started crying and James howled with laughed at the success of his prank, he heard something shatter as their mum rushed back in from getting drinks and he heard footsteps thundering down the stairs. A second later his dad burst into the room with his wand drawn, Lily stopped screaming at his laughter and his dad cast him a disapproving look as he pocketed his wand. Albus hurried in behind him a second later, stumbling sleepily and rubbing his eyes.

"James, do not trick your sister like that!" his dad said firmly as he came over to rub the sobbing Lily's shoulder soothingly, "They're just candy, sweetheart, its alright."

"I d-don't w-want m-m-maggots in my f-food," Lily cried and buried her head in his dad's arm as he started comforting her. James rolled his eyes, didn't _anyone_ know how to take a joke?

"See what you did?!" his mum snapped at James and he resisted rolling his eyes again to avoid getting in more trouble, parents could have no sense of humor sometimes, "I have half a mind to ground you from the party!"

"But _Mum_, its Halloween. They're not even _real_ maggots, it's just candy," James moaned at her unfairness, "I shouldn't miss the party just for that."

"You made your baby sister cry! It's not nice. I expect you to be on your best behavior today for your cousin's birthday or I really will ground you. This is not a good start.

"I'm sorry," James apologized insincerely.

"I don't see why we have to get up so early," Albus said with a yawn as he sat down and started pulling the least popular pancakes onto his plate.

"Here," James offered with a smirk as he tossed a snake-shaped pancake onto his brother's plate, "Saved you the serpent since you're going to be in Slytherin when you go to Hogwarts."

"No, I'm not," Albus insisted but a flicker in his eyes betrayed his anxiety over it as he dumped the snake back onto James' plate, "And _you_ haven't even started Hogwarts yet so for all we know, _you'll_ get Slytherin."

"Will not," James scoffed as he put it back on Albus', "I'm not a scummy snake. I'm as Gryffindor as they come, its in my blood."

"We have the same blood so it'd be in my blood too," Albus protested and threw it back onto James' plate.

"First time for everything," James pointed out as he plopped it back onto Albus' plate.

"Well you're the firstborn so its more likely to be you," Albus offered and put it back onto James' plate.

"Nu-uh, gonna be you. I'm named after _two_ Gryffindors and you're only named after one so I'm gonna get Gryffindor and_ you'll_ wind up in Slytherin with all the evil kids of Death Eaters to befriend," James taunted as he went to toss it back onto Albus' plate again, "You'll be disowned too."

"Merlin's sake," his mum complained and snatched up the snake-shaped pancake, putting it on her own plate, "And there's nothing wrong with Slytherin. Andromeda, Teddy's grandmother, was in Slytherin and she's perfectly nice, Nick Longbottom just got put in Slytherin this year too. There's nothing wrong with the house."

"Except for all the Death Eater kids," James pointed out and his mum threw him a burning look that strongly encouraged silence, she went back to go clean up what she'd dropped and James lowered his voice so quiet that only Albus would be able to hear him, "Nick got Slytherin and he's the second eldest. Just like you."

Albus said nothing but the flicker of worry in his eyes made James feel triumphant, it was a big brother's job to wind up the younger ones and all in good fun. Besides, it made him feel better that he wouldn't wind up in Slytherin, James thought he'd die of shame if that happened. But how could it? He was awesome. James didn't see how he'd done bad anyway, Lily wound up liking the Candy Maggots once she tried them so all was well. Grandma and Grandpa arrived after breakfast, while James and his siblings were getting dressed. And nice clean clothes, his mum insisted. James loved his grandparents, they doted on him as they did for all twelve of their grandchildren.

His cousin, Lucy, was with them as well as Uncle Percy and Aunt Audrey had to work so her grandparents watched her. Lucy's older sister, Molly, had just started Hogwarts that year and Lucy herself was two years younger than James. Lucy was very much a Weasley, red hair, freckles but muddy brown eyes like her strict mother. James liked Lucy well enough, although she was closer to Lily as they were more similar in age. Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione arrived with Rose and Hugo before they were done saying hello, they too had the Weasley red hair, freckles and blue eyes like their father although both possessed bushy hair like their mother. James also liked them well enough but they also were closer to his younger siblings, he thought it was a shame Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione couldn't have had a child his own age to be close to.

Hugo's birthday was the one they were celebrating so most of the attention was on him, James wished his cousin a Happy Birthday too while the adults got out his presents. James couldn't help but feel bored, he was glad that Hugo had presents and had every right to a great birthday but it still was boring to sit and watch the now eight year old open them. And they'd have to watch him open even more later at the party. Hugo got a nice mixture of toys, books, clothes and sweets, although if it was James then he'd have liked less books but it wasn't him until December. Being born so close to Christmas had severe drawbacks, for one his parents seemed to decide to save his best presents for Christmas and for two he always thought he got less since his family put more effort into Christmas. Least Uncle Charlie was usually already there for his Birthday, Uncle Charlie lived in Romania so they didn't see him as much but he was still awesome. And a Seeker. Doubly awesome.

It was more fun after the initial opening of gifts, his dad had to go into work but Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione took the day off as it was their son's birthday. They played with Hugo's new toys and he shared his sweets with them as Hugo was generous and fair like that, you wouldn't catch James stupidly giving away his candy. What was the point in even getting sweets if you just handed them out to everyone? Surely they'd prefer you ate them instead of everyone else, if not they'd have just given them to everyone else in the first place. Not that James was going to complain about getting free sweets from Hugo.

Finding a chocolate frog card of Uncle Ron prompted him to proudly start telling one of his stories of the awesome heroic adventures his dad, aunt and uncle had had in Hogwarts. The one about the year of the Goblet of Fire in particular this time. James loved that one, especially the part where his dad heroically battled the revived Voldemort at fourteen and when the awful Malfoy had been turned into a ferret. It served him right, Malfoys were so evil and such jerks, if there was any justice then theyd be banned from Hogwarts and simply die out. He also thought they should ban Slytherins too.

Aunt Angelina arrived with Roxy at some point during the story, Uncle George was at work and the elder child, Freddie, was in his Second Year of Hogwarts so it was just them two. Roxy looked less like a Weasley, with black hair like her mother and dark skin although lighter than her mother and her brother. She still had freckles though and was the only cousin who was the same age as James, Roxy had no interest in pranks though and was quite reserved really, they did both love Quidditch but then who didn't? Except Aunt Audrey anyway. Roxy just slipped in quietly and listened while Aunt Angelina went to talk to the other women, James didn't notice when they got there but he knew they were there when Uncle Ron finished the story.

"Happy Birthday, Hugo!" Lorcan Scamander exclaimed excitedly as he burst out the fireplace in a blaze of green flames, he practically pounced on Hugo to hug him. Lorcan's twin, Lysander, emerged a second later holding a bulky and badly wrapped gift with random bottle caps stuck on. They were identical twins, both with short dirty blonde hair like their mother and glinting amber eyes like their father. They were the same age as Lily.

"Thanks, Lorc," Hugo grinned as Luna Scamander stepped out of the fireplace, her husband Rolf following a second later.

"And we got you a present," Lorcan offered brightly as he pulled away and took the gift from Lysander, which he promptly handed to Hugo. Hugo eyed the bottle caps curiously and Lorcan looked apologetic, "Sorry about those."

"It's to keep the Nargles away from your present," Lysander explained in a loud attempt at a whisper, Lorcan however looked almost awkwardly embarrassed as he was less naïve about these things than his twin.

"Thanks, Lys," Hugo said anyway with a smile, James would've insisted there was no such thing as Nargles but his cousin apparently opted to spare Lysander's feelings.

The rest of the afternoon was literally all fun and games, from traditional Wizard games like Gobstones and Exploding Snap to Muggle board games that Grandpa wanted them to try - where Aunt Hermione needed to come over and help them with it since Grandpa didn't have much of a clue - and more active games like Hide-and-Seek and finally a pillow fight. The other adults did start arriving, Uncle George arrived first and jumped right into the pillow fight and both James and Lorcan's team united to tackle their two-pillow wielding one-eared uncle. Uncle Percy and Aunt Audrey arrived next, which was unexpected because the workaholics usually were the last. Both had positions in the Ministry and both took their jobs very seriously.

"Lucy!" Aunt Audrey barked immediately and his cousin froze midswing, James groaned inwardly at how unbelievably strict she was. Aunt Audrey had no sense of fun, he actually felt bad for Molly and Lucy to have such an awful woman for a mother and had no idea what had possessed even the dullest of his uncles to marry her in the first place, "That's quite enough of that now."

"But Mother," Lucy whined looking at her stoic mother pleadingly desperate while the rest of them also stopped.

"No. You've probably been behaving like this all day, you need to work now on your mathematics."

"Mathematics is boring and hard."

"If you put the effort you put into being bored into the work than it wouldn't be so hard."

"Father?" Lucy wondered hopefully as she changed tactics, Uncle Percy had the decency to look almost sympathetic but apparently was on his wife's side.

"Mathematics is important. The sooner you get the questions done the sooner you can get back to playing, alright?" Uncle Percy offered and Lucy sighed in defeat as she put down the pillow miserably.

"This isn't fair," James complained to his aunt irritably, "Can't you lighten up for _one_ day? Its Hugo's birthday and Lucy's the best on my team. After me, of course."

"Hey!" Albus moaned at not being second best but it was true, his brother hit worse than a girl.

"Absolutely not, education now is the foundation that magic school builds on and foundations are the most important part of any structure," Aunt Audrey insisted predictably as she brushed back a strand of brown hair, "If anything, James, _you_ should be taking your education more seriously and all of you should ask your parents for work to do instead of these trivial things if you want to succeed in the future. Come now, Lucy."

"Yes, Mother," Lucy agreed grudgingly and followed her mother out with a crestfallen expression while Uncle Percy went over to wish Hugo a happy birthday, as well as confirming the gift from them had been received.

It effectively put an end to their pillow fight and put an end to James' good mood. He knew he was supposed to be on his best behavior but it did it really count as bad if Aunt Audrey was his target? She'd been so unfair and he just had to get his revenge on her for taking Lucy. He had the perfect plan to get her back, Dungbomb her when she went to toilet. It'd make sure she was alone to not effect others, he might even get away with it as they could assume Aunt Audrey just smelled. He chuckled to himself at the thought at her frustration at being thought of as smelly, it would serve her right.

James slinked away upstairs to retrieve the merchandise, his supplies were getting low but thankfully he'd get stocked up for Christmas. That should last until August when they'd definitely have to go to Diagon Alley for his Hogwarts things. He only had one left and also took his last few Stink Pellets, with any luck they'd fit under the door or he'd have to try get them into the window. He headed back to test them, checking the coast was clear before crouching and testing them under the bathroom door.

Stink Pellets fitted easily, now for the Dungbomb... He was forced to stop when he heard footsteps and hastily jumped up, attempting to scoop up the Dungbomb and pellets still scattered on the floor but he stupidly dropped the ball - literally - in his rush. He managed to catch it before it could be set off but the adult who'd just reached the top of the stairs saw him, the adult unfortunately being his mum.

"James Sirius Potter! Did I not tell you to be on your best behavior?!" his mum demanded immediately as she strode over and took the Dungbomb from him, "A Dungbomb is _not_ best behavior. What else have got?"

"Nothing," James mumbled as he hung his head and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Turn out your pockets," his mum commanded and James grumbled as he pulled his hands out of his pockets, grasping the Stink Pellets to try hide them with his hands but unfortunately she still noticed and confiscated them. Starting to walk to put them somewhere out of reach, "I'll have to talk to your Uncle George about what he sells you. Honestly, I told you to behave just this morning! And I shouldn't even have to do that, you're starting Hogwarts next year. You should know better."

"I was going to give them to Hugo as more presents. Nothing bad," James lied desperately as he followed her into his parents' room.

"Do you think I was born yesterday?" his mum wondered with a stern raised eyebrow as she opened the drawer she put things she confiscated from him, Albus or Lily. Mostly him. His mum deposited his precious pranking devices into it before closing it once more, "Now let's get back downstairs and I expect _best behavior _from you. You're onto your last warning, young man, do you understand?"

"Yes, Mum."

"One more thing and I am grounding you, do you understand?"

"Yes, Mum."

His mum seemed satisfied with this as she took him back downstairs but James had every intention of getting his things back, his mum clearly underestimated his determination to get his revenge on the awful Aunt Audrey. They were listening to another of Uncle Ron's stories when he got back down, the one when they'd knocked out a Mountain Troll in their very first year on Halloween. It was a good story, James loved his uncle's stories but he unfortunately had to pay more attention to getting away from his mum's now more watchful eye. He was also starting to get worried about his dad, he didn't usually work that late. His dad wouldn't miss time with his family, his dad always said family was the most important thing.

"And that's how I knocked out a fully grown Mountain Troll and lived to tell the tale, wasn't even that much older than you," Uncle Ron concluded to the awestruck bunch, "And it's why we nearly named you 'Troll' instead of Hugo when you were born on Halloween, to honor my achievement."

The bunch exploded in laughter - James included - except little Hugo who looked a tad concerned by this, Uncle Ron playfully ruffled his son's hair and Hugo relaxed slightly. Uncle Ron had just opened his mouth to say something else when they were distracted by the fireplace flashing emerald before his dad emerged from it. Followed a moment later by Cel Rooke, his dad's exceedingly handsome sandy-haired protegé and Aunt Gabrielle's long-term boyfriend.

While Aunt Gabrielle wasn't technically an aunt, she was Aunt Fleur's sister and had become part of the extended peripheral family when she moved to England after graduating Beauxbatons. Uncle Bill, Aunt Fleur and Aunt Gabrielle would all be meeting them at the Leaky Cauldron since they had no children, or at least none not at Hogwarts in Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur's case. Victoire, Dom and Louis were all in Hogwarts along with Teddy Lupin, who also was basically family. Cel usually came with his dad though since they both worked at the Auror Office, along with Uncle Ron when he wasn't taking the day off, Cel was pretty cool too. The kids and adults alike went to greet the newcomers, James barged to the front and hugged his dad happily.

"Was getting worried you weren't going to be here," James admitted to his dad.

"I'd never miss time for my family," his dad confirmed and James grinned broadly before his parents decided to gross him out and kiss in greeting.

It was only as he made mock gagging sounds and moved away that he realized that his mum was distracted, it was the perfect chance to sneak back upstairs and retrieve his things from the draw. Maybe even his last chance since now everyone who wasn't meeting them there had arrived, it wouldn't be long before they left. James tried to move as gradually and nonchalantly as he could to the door, no one paid him any mind and he successfully slipped out while his mum's back was turned. He thought he was in the clear until he came across Lorcan when he got upstairs.

"What are you doing upstairs?" James demanded immediately, suspiciously paranoid that he was a spy for his mum or something.

"Toilet," Lorcan pointed out as if it was obvious and jerked his head at the door, James relaxed visibly but it was Lorcan's turn to be suspicious as he raised an eyebrow, "Why're you upstairs?"

"Toilet," James invented and Lorcan made a sweeping gesture to the bathroom door.

"It's all yours."

"Thanks," James grumbled and was forced to go into the bathroom to go along with his lie, he'd just have to wait for Lorcan to do back downstairs. Only the next thing he heard was footsteps rushing up the stairs not down, followed by a high five.

"Don't tell me you need the toilet as well?" Lorcan's voice guessed.

"No, I just came to tell you that Uncle Harry's just gotted here. And Cel," Lysander's voice burst out excitedly.

"Yeah, I heard the Floo and thought it was them."

"Oh right."

"We should get back downstairs, we'll be going now soon. Can't wait."

"Yeah. Me either," Lysander's voice said as their footsteps started to recede down the stairs, "Abby and August are probably really bored waiting."

James waited patiently for the footsteps to have stopped completely before leaving the bathroom and hurrying into his parents' room, he went over to the dresser and started rummaging through the draw. Surprised by how much old junk was actually in there, his blinding yo-yo, skiving sweets... why had he not thought to steal stuff back from here before? It was genius. His distraction from his lost cache cost him dearly though as he only picked up on footsteps and voices when they were too close to get out of the room unseen. James closed the draw hastily but didn't see any other place to go than to dive under the bed.

"-Just thought I'd show it you while I thought of it," his dad's voice was saying as the light came on, James saw two pairs of shoes walk into his small field of vision from beneath the bed, "For once and for all."

"You really don't have to," Cel's voice commented normally but his next words were laced with sarcasm, "A magical map of Hogwarts that tracks everyone's movements in it at any given time, _even_ when they're disguised of invisible. What's so difficult to believe about that?"

"Mock now but you'll be eating those worse in a minute," his dad said with amusement and James was highly intrigued, that map sounded awesome. He quickly heard a thump followed by a click, "Have to hide it in the trick drawer, I have no use for it now but it means too much for me to get rid of. I still wouldn't want any of the kids to find it, imagine the disaster."

"I wouldn't know. I was a good boy," Cel pointed out and he heard his dad laugh, followed by what sounded like something tapping paper.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

"Mother of Merlin," Cel gasped and James twitched, eager to see this apparent map they were talking about but knew he couldn't, "That's incredible."

"I did tell you."

"Wow."

"Yeah."

"Wow."

"Cel?"

"Sorry, its just... wow. I'm sorry I doubted you."

"It's alright."

"Wait, why is... oh yeah, McGonagall retired this summer. Varanian is her replacement? The metamorphmagus guy you have to awkwardly reject for being an auror every year?"

"Yes, I believe so. Why?"

"Just making sure McGonagall hadn't been locked in a trunk and replaced."

"You've been spending too much time with Ron again," his dad explained and it was Cel's turn to laugh.

"So how do you wipe it again? Just tap it with your wand and say... Mischief managed," Cel said and there was the sound of something tapping paper again, "Did I say wow yet?"

"Yes, you did," his dad confirmed and a moment later there was the sound of a drawer being shut and a click, "Goodbye again, my old friend."

James saw their feet moving away and it went dark again as the light went off as they left to go back downstairs, all thoughts of pranking Aunt Audrey and getting his things back were now gone from his mind. He wriggled out from under the bed and approached the dresser, he hadn't been able to see where his father had hit but it couldn't be that hard to figure out. He tried hitting the top but nothing, then the side... _Click_.

A small, thin and previously unnoticed draw popped open. James smiled to himself as he pulled out the piece of paper hiding in the draw, it was the only one in there so he could only assume it was what they'd been looking at. It was nothing special to look at, apart from looking old there was nothing to distinguish it from any other. It was completely blank... At least for _now. _He had heard the magic words after all.

James hurried out of the room into his own messy one, finding an unused piece of paper amongst his things and returned to place it in the drawer. He knew his dad would realize it wasn't the map if he tried to use it or even if they looked closely but if he just opened the draw at a glance to make sure it was still there. It should fool anyone at a quick glance and with any luck, his dad would just believe he got it mixed up with another piece of parchment by mistake. He shut the draw and was rewarded by another click as it closed, he took his newfound treasure out to hide in his own room. James knew exactly the first thing he was going to do when he got his wand in August, he smiled at the thought as he made his way back downstairs. He couldn't wait.


End file.
